Dubai, Mar 25: Iranian state television’s English-language broadcaster quoted an anonymous official on Wednesday saying that Iran had rejected America’s 15-point ceasefire proposal.
Pakistani officials described the proposal broadly as touching on sanctions relief, civilian nuclear cooperation, a rollback of Iran’s nuclear program, monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency, missile limits and access for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf.
The Trump administration reportedly offered the plan to Iran as the U.S. appears to seek an end to the war even while more troops head to the Middle East. At least 1,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division will be sent to the Mideast in the coming days, three people with knowledge of the plans told The Associated Press. The Pentagon is also in the process of deploying two Marine units that will add about 5,000 Marines and thousands of sailors to the region.
Here is the latest:
Egyptian official comments on Iran rejecting the ceasefire proposal
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Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty reacted to Iran’s rejection to the ceasefire, saying Egypt will continue it’s efforts to help bring views from the warring parties closer to reaching a compromise and working out their differences.
Egypt supports President Trump’s peace initiative to open the door with the Iranian side for negotiations and is actively working on achieving a ceasefire in Iran, with Abdelatty saying “there’s no winning party in this dangerous escalation.”
Abdelatty said Egypt is in touch with the Iranians through one channel, which is through the Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi.
“History taught us that military solutions is not the answer,” he said during a news briefing in Cairo on Wednesday. “We believe with good intention and political will and with seriousness from both sides, they can exchange views and reach compromise.”
Iran dismisses US ceasefire plan
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Iranian state television’s English-language broadcaster quoted an anonymous official Wednesday as saying Iran rejected America’s 15-point ceasefire proposal. Press TV’s report came after Pakistan transmitted the proposal to Iran.
Lebanese army says missile that burst north of capital was Iranian-made, likely not targeting the country
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The Lebanese military said after collecting shrapnel fragments that scattered across several towns north of Beirut that it resembled a Qadr 110, an Iranian-made medium-range ballistic missile that had “smaller rockets attached to it.”
It said the missile burst at high altitude, suggesting it wasn’t targeting Lebanon.
“As for the cause of its explosion, it was likely either a technical malfunction or an interceptor missile,” the military said. “The military command notes that there are no interceptor missile platforms located within Lebanese territory.”
Qadr 110 missiles are capable of striking any targets in the Mideast, including Israel. The incident horrified Lebanese residents as fragments scattered across towns and villages in the Keserwan district north of Beirut, and far from the epicenter of the conflict.
France says Gulf damage cuts oil supply by 11 million barrels a day
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France’s Finance Minister Roland Lescure said Wednesday that 30 per cent to 40 per cent of refining capacity in the Gulf has been damaged or destroyed, leading to an oil crisis especially in some Asian countries.
“As a result, we are now facing an oil market where 11 million barrels per day are missing,” he said.
Lescure said he had talks with his counterpart in Qatar, where 17 per cent of gas production capacity has now been destroyed as a result of the attacks carried out on the facilities.
“It will take year — around three years — to restore them,” Lescure said. In addition, it will take months to relaunch some gas facilities that have been shut down in emergency by Qatar, he said.
France is relatively preserved regarding a shortage of gas supplies, Lescure noted, because the country relies on gas for less than 5 per cent of its electricity, which is mostly produced by nuclear plants.
Turkey presses ahead with efforts to de-escalate
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Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Wednesday discussed the “trajectory” of the war and efforts to halt attacks during telephone calls with his Syrian, Qatari and Uzbek counterparts, ministry officials said.
Turkey has been holding a series of talks with neighbouring and regional countries to push for de-escalation and to open the way for negotiations to end the conflict.
Tehran resident says Trump’s threats spread anger and confusion’ in Iran as bombs fall
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A Tehran resident says President Trump’s threats to strike Iranian power plants earlier in the week have spread “anger and confusion” in Iran.
“There have been some days when the bombings are so intense you can’t do anything,” the 26-year-old university graduate student said, adding his friends mostly stayed home. He spoke on condition of anonymity out of security fears.
He said the US leader’s comments have deepened fears that the strikes will move toward targeting civilian infrastructure and “innocent civilians.” He described seeing serious damage to residential sites in his area of western Tehran, including an apartment building and pharmacy.
“I wake up sometimes from the sounds of bombardment but I manage to sleep somehow or I immediately text my friends to see if they are ok. It’s stressful,” he said.
Iran’s government has almost entirely cut links with the global internet. The student said he and his friends were relying on the national government-controlled network to use domestic ride hailing and messaging apps, but connections to that system were also not reliable.
Lebanon mourners bury paramedic killed in Israeli airstrike
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Mourners gathered Wednesday in the coastal city of Tyre in southern Lebanon to bury a paramedic killed in an Israeli airstrike.
Ahmed Ibrahim Deeb was a first responder with the civil defence team affiliated with the Amal Movement, a Shiite political party allied with Hezbollah.
Amal spokesperson Alwan Sharafeddine said he was killed by a strike in his hometown, Shohour, to the east of Tyre, while on a motorcycle heading to his civil defense post for work.
He was buried in a temporary grave because the fighting has made it too risky to hold funerals in some hometowns.
“He was one of the young men from the town who refused to be displaced and insisted on remaining steadfast on their land,” Sharafeddine said.
Lebanon’s health ministry said Wednesday that Israeli strikes have killed 42 paramedics since the resurgence of war between Israel and Hezbollah on March 2.
Israeli fireman says cluster munitions pose unique challenges
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Lt. Edgar Blum at the Ramat Gan fire department told The Associated Press that fire fighters have had to adapt their response because Iran is using cluster munitions.
Instead of a team arriving at the site of a missile strike and identifying the most damaged houses, now they must decide which areas across a much larger space have been hardest hit and send separate crews to each spot.
“The challenge is to understand if you have five places that have been hit, which of the scenes needs more attention. You asses by the biggest fire, the biggest threat and where the most amount of people are,” he said.
He also reminds his teams that cluster munitions don’t always explode, so firefighters have to keep their distance, especially at night when it’s hard to see.
Republicans and Democrats prioritize keeping gas prices low
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Keeping the price at the pump down is a goal uniting Americans in both parties.
About two-thirds of Americans in a new AP-NORC poll say keeping US oil and gas prices from rising should be an “extremely” or “very” important foreign policy goal for the US.
However, they are just as likely to say it’s important to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, a juxtaposition that could be difficult for the White House to manage.
About three-quarters of Republicans and about two-thirds of Democrats say it’s highly important to prevent US oil and gas prices from going up.
Slightly fewer than half of US adults, 45 per cent, are “extremely” or “very” concerned about being able to afford gas in the next few months, up from 30 per cent in an AP-NORC poll conducted shortly after Trump won reelection with promises that he would improve the economy and lower the cost of living.
Russia nuclear head says workers leaving Iran plant
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The head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom says more of its workers are being evacuated from Iran’s Russia-built nuclear power plant following another strike on its territory.
Alexei Likhachev said last week that Rosatom had 480 workers at the plant in Bushehr. He announced another group left Wednesday and more will be pulled out later this week.
He said Rosatom will reduce the number of workers to a minimum until the situation normalizes.
Likhachev late Tuesday reported another strike on the plant’s territory close to the working nuclear reactor following an attack last week.
He said there were no injuries, but noted the situation was developing according to a “negative scenario.”
Iraq says it will file sovereignty complaint to UN
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Khalid al-Yaqoubi, security advisor to Iraq’s prime minister, says his country will file a sovereignty complaint to the United Nations Security Council.
He told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Iraqi security forces have lost 80 members and 150 have been wounded since the Middle East war began February 28.
Al-Yaqoubi said the US has violated Iraq’s airspace, while Iran is to blame for attacks against Kurdish forces in the country’s north.
“We are against the aggression on Iran because it is not justified,” he said about the war that was launched by the US and Israel.
He said the security forces include Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Force, a coalition of Iran-backed militia that is nominally under the control of the Iraqi military. (AP)
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